Alligators in Virginia

Thursday evening my beau and I decided to get a little adventureous. Last weekend we visited the Farmer's Market. The market provides several different vendors including an organic selection, plants for purchase and our favorite, the Country Butcher Shop and Deli. At the Butcher a wide variety of exotic meats, game and seafood can be found. This trip we walked away with fresh alligator sausage (a mere $8.99/pound) and duck (frozen).

Last night we grilled the alligator sausage, and let me tell you it was perfect. The sausage is obviously seasoned and much to my pleasure, not spicy. It's difficult to liken it to another meat, but was not unpleasant in the least. However, from my research, it's not much better for you than regular sausage. The truth is, while there may be alligator in the sausage, it's typically blended with pork. Lot of potein, but even more fat, so I'd save this luxury for a calorie splurge and realize the sausage is being branded as alligator as more of a marketing technique. Alligator by itself, however, boasts a lower fat and calorie content than chicken. We paired the sausage with grilled eggplant just to shake things up a bit and enjoyed my lower cal version of a Greyhound (vodka, soda water and a splash of ruby red gratefruit juice).

The question still remains, as pointed out by a friend, where is the alligator meat from if there are not alligators in Hampton Roads?